Women’s Volleyball Preview

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Author: Henry Meier

Oxy’s volleyball team (2-4 1-2 SCIAC) is looking to expand upon their promising season last year with a team that features a core of veteran leadership mixed with loads of young talent. Though the Tigers finished 4-14 last year, they displayed incredible heart and determination throughout the season.

This year, however, features a new attitude from the volleyball team. “When it comes down to it, we want to win more games,” Sonia Huizar (senior) said. “We feel like our team chemistry is better than ever, and that combined with the all the hard work we have been putting in, it will hopefully pay off.”

In her first year as Head Coach, Cathy Tennis has similar goals for her players. “We want to move up in the SCIAC standings,” she said. “We finished tied for fifth last year, and this year we’re looking to end the season in third or fourth place.”

Huizar, Shannon Klebe (senior), Emily Wagner (senior) and Jamie Nikami (sophomore) are the only players back from last year’s campaign and are helping acclimate the seven first-years and one sophomore who are playing collegiate volleyball for the first time.

“In some ways it feels like a completely new team,” Wagner said. “With only four returnees, it requires those who have been here before to really step up and lead the team, but at the same time, the new players have really responded well and helped immensely.”

For the first-years on the team, their first season is a bit of a trial by fire. “It’s definitely very different from our experiences in high school,” Kathryn Bockmon (first-year) said. “The game is faster and everyone we’re playing is more skilled, but as our chemistry improves, we are only going to get better and be more competitive.”

With such a young team, the Tigers feel that they can continue to improve vastly throughout the year. “Right now, our defense is definitely our strong point,” Tennis said. “As the season goes on, we are working on improving our offense which has traditionally been a problem area for us.”

The players know what they need to do and are working hard to achieve a level of success on the court. “We need everyone to improve throughout the season,” Wagner said. “But we also need individuals to step up during games and hit the ball well.”

The Tigers showcased their potential for success in their win over Cal Tech on Saturday. Oxy won the match three games to none, and every member of the team played a significant amount of time, demonstrating the Tigers’ depth. If the Tigers can continue this success, they could be quite the spoiler down the road in SCIAC play.

With such a young and talented team, we could be seeing a glimpse of the future of Oxy volleyball.

Come see the Tigers take on Whittier Friday, September 28 at 7:30 p.m.

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